As his son began climbing the boarding ramp, Anakin let out a small chuckle. Luke reminded him of himself – stupidly stubborn – but thankfully there was no darkness within Luke. He had gotten his mother’s pure soul.

A pang of pain struck Anakin’s heart. He had not allowed himself to think of Padmé in years.

His breath hitched, tears fell, and for the first time he truly grieved for his beloved wife.

Luke hurried through the shuttle and set his father on a medi-station bunk. He slipped an oxygen mask over his father’s mouth and quickly kissed him on the forehead. “I’ll get us out of here, just say with me.”

As Luke rushed out, Anakin mumbled, “This is where the fun begins.”

* * *

Luke dashed into the cock-pit, flicked the switch to raise the boarding ramp, and started up the ship.

He managed to glide the shuttle out of the hangar just as it started to collapse. He was only a few hundred metres away from the Death Star when it exploded. The detonation rocked the shuttle and a piece of metal from the damned super weapon took out their thrusters.

Luke checked the diagnostics and let out a string of curses that would have made his Aunt Beru swat him. He changed the friend/foe setting on the transmitting board and hailed Home One.

“Home One, this is Commander Skywalker aboard Imperial Shuttle Magnum. I need immediate assistance. I am carrying severely injured personnel and unable to get to you.” Luke stumbled over the proper comm language.

“Commander Skywalker, we acknowledge your request but are unable to grant it at this time.”

Luke was about to plea with the communication officer when he heard another voice through the comm. “Luke, buddy, need a lift?”

Luke breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes, Lando, please.”

“We’ll be there in five standard minutes.”

Without losing a second, Luke was up and heading to his father. When he got to the medbay, Anakin’s eyes were closed and he was weeping.

“Father? I have to get this suit off you, alright? I have help on its way and I don’t want them knowing who you were just yet.” Luke looked at the last piece of the mask still on his father’s face – the piece that covered his lower jaw and neck. He reached to the back and found a dial. After Luke twisted it, the last piece of the mask fell away, revealing Anakin’s scarred neck.

Luke quickly kissed his father’s cheek before turning to search for something that could cut fabric and armor. He found round cutter and quickly started peeling the suit off his father. He cut away the thick black suit to reveal wires machinery and white flesh.

Once the suit was gone, Luke truly saw his father. Obi-Wan had been right: Anakin was more machine than human. But it was only Anakin’s limbs that were crude, outdated, cybernetic replacements. His core was thin and weak, but still human.

Luke disposed of the cursed suit out an airlock and when he came back, he noticed his father was shivering uncontrollably.

“Oh, Dad,” he sighed, grabbing blankets and covering his father with them.

Anakin let his one hand slide out from the blanket and brushed Luke’s leg. Luke looked down and grabbed his father’s metal left hand.

“How are you feeling?” Luke asked.

“I haven’t felt this good in twenty-three years,” Anakin responded weakly, but with a smile. He then asked, “Do you really feel so comfortable as to call me dad?”

“Dad,” Luke said for emphasis. “That’s who you are to me. Besides, the word ‘father’ kinda reminds me of the whole ‘I am you father’ thing on Bespin.”

Anakin avoided his son’s eyes. “I am sorry for that.”

“It’s all in the past now.”

Then they heard the docking ring engage. Luke squeezed his father’s mechanical excuse for a hand before hurrying off to see Lando coming through the docking ring, behind him was Nien Nunb.

“Get the hovergurney off the Falcon,” Luke ordered, knowing that gurney had an oxygen attachment. “And come meet me in this shuttle’s med-bay.” He then hurried back to his dad.

When he got back, he knew Anakin was slipping away. “Dad? Dad, stay with me,” Luke pleaded as he slipped a sheet under him to make the transfer process easier.

“I’m cold,” Anakin mumbled.

Luke wrapped the blankets around him tighter, tucked a towel under his head and created a hood to keep his father’s head warm. “Do you want me to remind you about Tatooine?”

Anakin chuckled as Luke hovered over his head. “Okay.”

Luke smiled. “Well, did you ever forget your boots out in the sand in the evening?”

“Yeah. In the morning when you go to get them, the sand is so hot; you have to run like a madman so your feet won’t burn. Good to know I wasn’t only idiot who did that once.”

“No, I think you were the only one who did it once. I did it every other week.”

Anakin rolled his eyes. “My son is a moron.”

“Like father, like son,” Luke continued the banter as Lando and Nien Nunb entered.

They picked up the sheet containing Anakin and easily transferred him to the hovergurney.

“Luke? Mind if I ask who this is?” Lando asked as he helped Luke get one oxygen mask off Anakin and put the mask attached to the hovergurney on the elderly man.

“Long story,” Luke said as he directed the hovergurney towards the Falcon. “But, I owe this man my life. We need to get him to Home One.”

Lando nodded. “Will do, Luke,” he said they entered the Falcon. “Nien, you heard the Commander, get us to Home One.”

The Sullustan hurried off while Lando and Luke brought the hovergurney into the Falcon’s medbay.

“Lando, go help Nien,” Luke commanded.

Father and son were alone again.

“Luke, you must tell them who I am. They must know who they are helping. I must pay for my crimes.” Although he was feeble, Anakin was still demanding.

“I will. I will tell them you are Anakin Skywalker – my father. No one knows but my sister that you were Vader and she wouldn’t have told anyone yet.”

Anakin shook his head. “No, Luke, justice is the Jedi way.”

“So is the truth and forgiveness. If you want to tell them who you were, you can, but just let me get you better first, please.”

“Fine, but you too have to get better, too.” When Luke looked at him, confused, Anakin continued. “Force lightning has horrible after-effects. You may not be feeling them now, but you will.”

Luke nodded. “Yes, how did you – ?” He realized how silly his question was. Of course it was the Force that told him.

“It wasn’t the Force that told me,” Anakin answered his son’s thoughts. “Not entirely anyway. I don’t know how I didn’t see it before. She looks so much like her mother.”

Luke perked once he heard the last word. “Mother?” He knew very little about his mother. He had no memories of her. He only knew from Leia that she was beautiful, kind, yet sad. His Aunt Beru had once told him she and his mother had been friends, but she hadn’t been from Tatooine.

He then felt the Falcondock with Home One. He knew medics would be rushing in here in a matter of moments.

“Your mother was an angel,” Anakin started, tears forming once again in his eyes. Before he could regain his posture, Lando entered with medics following him. They rushed Anakin out of the Falconas Luke hurried behind them.

I leave for a week and come back to this!? AAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Evil muse! EEEEVILLLLLL! Bad, bad, bad! Don't you DARE kill Anakin now...not before he sees his grandkids! Don't you dare kill one of Leia's kids, either! No, no, no!!! And not Luke and Mara too!

You've got me caught between and . PLEASE make it OK...or I shall come through the computer and haunt you!

Eh. It’s Sunday in most of the world. Thanks for all your reviews! (and for not killing me!). This next chapter is somewhat less evil, but you don't get all the answers, so you can't kill me yet! Tag list PT1:
@Jedi_Lover
@Lady_Misty
@Hazel
@Tribaldancer
@JediMaster_Jen

The water carried Luke’s body through the cavern network and out to the forest of Nirauan. Once he was able to, Luke fought the water and managed to overcome the strong current. He threw himself up onto the shore of the newly created river. He began coughing up the water out of his lungs.

“Mara!” he screamed in between coughs. “Mara!” He stumbled as he got up and looked around frantically. She was nowhere in sight. He felt panic creeping up on his heart and mind. He couldn’t feel her presence in the Force. “Mara!”

He seeks Woman of Fire,Luke heard the thought in his mind. An image of a red-headed human woman wearing a navy blue flight suit, lying face down in a large red puddle was projected into his mind.

Mara.

He looked up at the flying creatures. He had heard of animals that could use the Force, but he had never though that any sort of animal could communicate in a way that he could understand.

But, right now, he did not care how, only that they could communicate and that they knew where Mara was.

“Yes,” he both said and thought clearly.

Why should we help him?He is an invader. Somehow Luke knew that the thought came from a different flying creature. But he killed Chief Invader and others that came with Chief Invader. I observed it myself.“I will leave as soon as soon as I find Mara,” he swore. “Please.”What is your name? the third creature asked.“Luke Skywalker.”There was chatter among the creatures; Luke could not make out a clear thought. Finally, he got an answer. Walker of Skies, you are the one Interpreter of Dreams said would be coming. She said you would free us from the Invaders. That message came from the second creature. I think he did already, the first creature spouted. Walker of Skies, the one you seek is just this way.“Thank you.” Luke poured his gratitude into the Force. He only had to follow the creatures over a ridge and down a short incline before he saw Mara. He ran to her, turning her over once he was at her side. She wasn’t breathing. “Come on, Mara, you can’t leave me. Not now. Not ever.” He felt for her pulse, pressing his fingers to her bloody neck. It was weak, but still there. Luke turned her over on her side and used the Force to flush water out of her lungs. She coughed, then gasped for breath, her eyes opening.“Mara?” Luke was relieved to see her green eyes focus on him. “Thank the galaxy you’re alive.” He pressed his lips to her mouth. Their kiss was short, yet perfect. The amount of blood that soaked her fight suit alarmed him. “I’m getting married,” she said weakly. “No power in the universe could keep me from getting my ring, or my Farmboy.”Luke grinned. He commed Artoo Deetoo and instructed his droid to get a ship and come to the coordinates he sent. He positioned himself so that Mara’s head was in his lap. He supported her neck and shoulders in his hands.He then noticed something on Mara’s belt. Clipped beside her lightsaber that he gave her, was another. A very familiar one. His first lightsaber – his father’s lightsaber.She smiled up at him. “They must have gotten the DNA material for your clone from the hand you left in Cloud City.” Luke rolled his eyes at her phrasing. “They probably found your lightsaber with it.”“Not my lightsaber. My father’s.”Tears formed in his eyes and Mara didn’t ask why. He knew she didn’t have to. She knew what had happened. She let his tears fall on her.* * *The ship that Artoo had procured was a modified B-wing. It had a slightly larger cockpit compared to average B-wings. It had a pilot’s chair and normal weapons controls, but behind it was a small living area, about two metres in width, three in length, and one in height. Though it required crawling around in the cramped quarters, Luke was simply thankful that he could sit up in it. It was obviously build for one being who spent weeks on end traveling. It had a small food prep area stocked with ration bars and water, a bedroll, and a medical kit. Luke gently laid Mara on the bedroll. “Artoo, get us in the air and calculate the jump to the nearest occupied New Republic planet.”“No, Artoo,” Mara said as Luke grabbed the medical kit. “Set us on a course for Coruscant. Luke needs to be with his family right now.”Luke stared down at her. “No, I can feel the amount of pain you’re in. You require medical attention.” He hesitantly unzipped her suit and helped her take it off. She lay before him in shorts and an undershirt. She was banged up pretty good, with many bruises, a half dozen broken bones, and probably a concussion. Luke feared that she had internal bleeding.“And I can feel the pain you’re in,” she countered. “You need to be with your family.”He stopped what he was doing to hold her hand. “You’re my family now.”She gave him a small smile. “Alright. We will go to the nearest medcenter, but unless I absolutely have to be dunked in a bacta tank, we are getting another ship and heading to Coruscant as soon as I get bandaged up.”“You’re just trying to get out of a bacta dip.” His attempt at a joke was weak, but she still grinned.“You caught me.”* * *As it turned out, the nearest planet with a medcenter was Bilbringi, about a day’s flight away. Mara had tried to convince Luke that they might as well just save time and go straight for Coruscant, but he refused to listen to her. It had dissolved into a fight as they traveled their first jump.“Luke, I’m fine,” she insisted as she lay on the bedroll in her modest and functional bra and underwear. Luke saw no need for her to strip. He wanted to wait until their wedding night before he saw her in all of her glory.“Tell that to your ribs.” He was rationing the small tube of bacta he found in the medkit over her body and wrapping her most injured areas in cloth, both from the kit and strips of their clothing, which was a wet clump in the corner. He was in his boxers. “And to your wrist. I’m pretty sure that you are going to need reconstructive surgery.” “Great,” she muttered before sneezing.He placed a hand on her forehead and let out a heavy sigh. “You’re warm. You are going to have a fever.”“No shavit,” she said bluntly. “So will you. We were kind of drowned in freezing cold water.” She sought his hand and gripped it. “You’re exhausted. Lie down, please. You have done all that you can for me right now.”He almost argued, but soon realised that she was right. Giving her the majority of the bedroll, he lied down on his side and covered both their bodies with the blanket. He desperately wanted to wrap his arms around her, but her body was too fragile, so he settled for kissing her cheek and holding her hand. “We are going to have to get someone to go back to Nirauan,” he said, seemingly making idle conversation.She nodded. “We want to make sure the clones were destroyed, and anything else Jerec had there.”“There’s that reason,” he agreed with her. “But there’s also your ring in the Second Chance’s wreckage.”He felt her go into his mind and into his memories. “It’s beautiful,” she gasped.“It’s not nearly as beautiful as you.”She rolled her eyes. “You’re such a sap.” Despite her words, she was blushing. After a moment, she asked, “So what exactly happened back there, in the cave, right before I killed Jerec? Why do I know and sense everything you have gone and are going through? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not complaining - I think it’s…more than amazing.”“I agree,” he said with a smile. “I really don’t know what happened. I’ve read about Jedi Padawans and their masters forming bonds over years of working together. My dad said that he and his master could sense each other light-years away, but he, nor nothing I’ve read, has described something such as this.”“I had a bond with the Emperor. I could hear his voice and he knew my thoughts, yet it was nowhere near as deep as this.”“I think it’s because our bond was forged from love. I think it’s the Force telling us that we were meant to be together forever.” He tucked the blankets tighter around their bodies. * * *They made it to Bilbringi in once piece and Mara was rushed into see a medical team. Fortunately for her, she could survive for a day without a bacta dunk. Unfortunately, she needed immediate surgery. Her condition was not life-threatening, but the surgeons wanted to set her wrist back in place and put pins in the bones so that if would heal properly. They would slather bacta on her and wrap her in bandages for the flight home. While Mara was in surgery, Luke got a change of clothing and got them a ride on a shuttle bound for Coruscant. He would be able to tend to her in their private cabin without worrying about calculating hyperspace jumps. Now, he was sitting in a private comm station booth in the medcenter. He ran a hand through his hair, wondering who he could contact for information on his sister and father. He reached out into the Force and found Han out of his mind in panic even a day after the event…whatever it was. Luke did not want to learn of what happened from the holonews.He dialed Winter’s holocomm. Tycho answered. The blond looked at Luke with sympathetic eyes. “Commander Skywalker.”“Tycho, do you know what happened to my sister and father? Please,” Luke begged.“Winter just got back from the medcenter. I’ll get her to tell you.” Tycho disappeared and Winter appeared a few moments later. She looked uncharacteristically ragged and weary. “Luke, where have you been? Where are you?”“I had my own crisis. I’m in a medcenter on Bilbringi right now. I’ll be back on Coruscant this time tomorrow. What happened to Leia and my dad?”Winter let out a heavy breath. “There was an attack on their life. An unknown assailant launched a detonator at Leia during a public address. Anakin shielded her with his body. Leia is alive, but she’s a mess. She miscarried one of her children and the doctors have no idea what to do. They can’t remove the miscarried child without risking damage to the child that is still alive. If they remove both children then the child that is still alive many not survive due to its prematurity. But none of them will survive much longer if the miscarried child remains inside of her. Along with her wounds, she’s beginning to run a fever due to having the deceased child still inside her, and it’s only getting worse.” Luke felt like he was on the edge of breaking down, but he managed to keep himself together. “Tell Leia that it’s going to be alright. I’ll be there tomorrow. Tell her to try to wrap the deceased child in the Force. Tell her I know that she’s had limited training, but she needs to try.”Winter nodded. She then told him of his father. “Thank you,” he said, quietly. He then looked on the chrono on the comm. unit. “I’d better go. Mara will be out of surgery soon.”“My thoughts are with you,” Winter said as she signed out. Gathering his thoughts, he commed for a taxi and went to the waiting room where he waited for Mara. A nurse came out pushing a limp Mara in a hoverchair. She was pale and the sickly green pajamas she was wearing didn’t help the matter. Her hair was pulled back and areas of her body were neatly wrapped in bandages. Luke didn’t need their bond to know that she was suffering the after effects of anesthesia.Once they were together, he leaned down and gave her a soft kiss. “How are you holding up?” She was the one to ask him first. “Fine. I commed Winter and she let me know everything.” He gently stroked her cheek. “How are you feeling?”“Groggy and generally out of it.”“I have a taxi waiting to bring us to a port. I got us on the next shuttle to Coruscant, so we’d better hurry.”She tried to get up, but both he and the nurse stopped her. “The shuttle knows you are coming right out of surgery,” he assured her. “They are going to have a hoverchair and a stewardess waiting to board us as soon as we arrive at the port.”To his surprise, she didn’t argue. She let the nurse push her out to the taxi and let Luke help her inside. She was sound asleep, leaning against his arm, before the taxi took off.

Medically speaking it's not called a miscarriage after the point of viability, which in our world is between 26 and 28 weeks...it's called a stillbirth...then again if the baby is stilll inside...Poor Leia,and poor Han!

Why can we not find out what happened to Anakin yet!!?!?? If he's gone, why did you kill him off? It'd be noble and all that and appropriate for him to do, but come on! Why can't Anakin see those redheaded grandbabies he predicted?

About the editing? I know, it's taking me forever to format my own posts.

The cliffhanger has multiple chapters? OMG. Pure evil to the readers. Which twin is dead? How long before Luke and Mara get to Coruscant? How is Han holding up? What about Anakin? Many questions. I need answers. So I will wait and be patient.

“I’m getting married,” she said weakly. “No power in the universe could keep me from getting my ring, or my Farmboy.”

I love that Mara's okay. You had me worried. (This is the part where Bri puts on her evil cap and cackles "You should be worried! muahahahaha!!!!!" amirite?????

But, seriously, poor Leia. We know how much Jacen ends up sucking (I assume the dead baby is Jacen but if it's Jaina maybe this situation will change him, in the future, for the better...course, what if the baby ends up being Anakin or an OC...??) but it's tough to think of a dead baby. And Leia still carrying him while trying to protect her other child. So very sad, and heartbreaking.

Oh yeah. It’s Wednesday. Between the BIG NEWS and my horribly horrible midterms, I completely forgot what day it was. Thanks for reading guys! And sorry about the stillbirth. I couldn’t do a complete ‘everyone survives/happily ever after’ – that’s just not me.Tag list PT1:
@Jedi_Lover
@Lady_Misty
@Hazel
@Tribaldancer
@JediMaster_Jen

Chapter NineteenWhen Anakin slowly regained consciousness, he had no sense of how much time had passed. It may have been minutes, it may have been weeks. He wasn’t even sure if he was still alive. He tried to open his eyes, but blinding lights forced him to remain in darkness. He heard a distant voice. “Anakin.”Although he hadn’t heard her voice in two decades, he recognized it immediately. He willed his eyes open and he saw her. She was looking down at him, surrounded by blue light. He smiled. “Padmé.” He was dead, but that was the furthest thing from his mind at the moment. He reached up to touch her. She stopped him. “You are not dead yet,” she told him. “But you are gravely injured. Your body is still in the mortal realm, in a medcenter.”“Why am I here? Where is here?”“We are somewhere between the mortal worlds and the Netherworld of the Force. The Force allowed us to meet here so that I could tell you that you need to live. You can’t die yet.” “What if I want to die?”She smiled sadly. “We will be together again eventually, but right now, you need to will yourself to live. Our daughter needs you, so does our son.”“I don’t feel like I can fight anymore.”“Deep down in your soul, you still believe that you should die for your crimes, but you were forgiven by the Force when you saved your son.”“Yet, I feel as if a piece of Vader still lives in me.”“He does still live in you. He is part of your past and you can never completely rid yourself of him, just like Vader could never rid himself completely of you. You will always be in a battle between good and evil. All you can do is look to the future with love.”“I will, Padmé,” he promised. * * *After getting out of a bacta tank, Mara had been put in Anakin’s room. She was well enough to go home now—Winter had retrieved some clothes for her if she did want to return to their apartment—but she stayed to keep a vigil over Anakin. She felt like she owed it to the man. He had given her so much – a new life, a second chance, and a fiancé.Luke was with his sister, helping her through this rough time. They had decided to use the Force to keep the deceased child from further infecting Leia, but that had only been minimally effective. Time was running short. Mara was about to get up to see how Leia was doing when she heard Anakin mumble something. “Anakin?” She sat up straighter in her chair. “Padmé?” he whispered. “No, Anakin, it’s Mara,” she corrected him. “You’re in a critical care room in a medcenter. You’ve been out of it for five days. Can you try opening your eyes for me?”It was an obvious struggle, but eventually he opened his eyes. “Leia,” he gasped. “Where’s Leia?” He tried to get up but she stopped him with her one hand that wasn’t in a bacta-cast. “Leia is just next door. Luke, Han, and Chewbacca are with her. I’ll go see if you can visit her. Do you need anything else?”“No,” he said with a soft shake of his head. She left Anakin’s room and Chewbacca, who was standing guard for both Anakin and Leia, let her into Leia’s room. Leia’s physical and mental suffering was obvious on her face; the worry lines and puffy eyes made her look years older. She was hooked up to more machines and monitors than Anakin was. There was at least one nurse in the room at all times. Clearia, the Twi’lek nurse from Anakin’s time aboard the Home One, was in the room now.Han sat at her side, holding her hand and occasionally dabbing her sweaty skin with a cool cloth. She was running a very high temperature and her breath came in wheezes. Luke was at Leia’s other side, deep in meditation, trying to help keep her and her unborn child well.Both men looked like they hadn’t shaved, sanisteamed, slept, or eaten in days. They probably hadn’t.The room’s occupants all looked at Mara expectantly as she entered. “He’s awake, barely,” she answered to their palpable relief. “He’s asking for Leia. Can we bring him in here to see her?” Clearia answered. “I’m sorry, I can’t permit it at this time. Leia started to have contractions. At first I told Luke and Han not to worry because I could stop them with drugs, but I have given her all that is safe and the contractions haven’t stopped.”“I want to see him,” Leia puffed.“I’m sorry Leia, I can’t allow it.”Just as Clearia said this, Leia started gasping for air and then screamed. Her body scrunched up. Mara could feel her pain through Luke, who was apparently sharing Leia’s pain. Mara had to lean against the door to keep upright. Leia eventually relaxed, leaving her struggling for air once more.“That one was bad,” Luke muttered. His eyes showed his worry, with more than a hint of fear. Han kissed Leia in between her eyes. “Leia, sweetheart, you can’t keep this up. You’re killing yourself and the baby, and look at the toll you’re putting on Luke.”Luke gave Han a stern glance. “Leia, don’t think of me. I’ll be fine.” He let out a sigh. “But I do agree with Han. You need to go in for the caesarean section. Even with our full strength, we can’t keep the infection from consuming you and the baby.”Leia’s eyes welled with tears.Han continued. “And the doctors can’t stop the contractions anymore. I know you wanted a natural birth – we both did – but your body is in no shape for that kind of strain.” He then got closer to her to whisper in her ear, yet Mara could still hear. “I won’t let you or our baby that still lives die.” Mara knew it was Leia’s decision to make. After a tense moment of stillness, Leia gave a single nod. Clearia swiftly informed other staff via comlink of Leia’s decision. Within moments, she was rushed out by nurses.Once they were alone, Mara walked to where Luke still sat, rubbing his weary eyes, and leaned down to give him a tight hug. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her. “Can I see my dad?” he asked eventually. “He is going to be wondering what is going on.”Mara let go of him. “Go ahead,” she said, thinking that he wanted time alone with his father. He, of course, knew her thoughts. He grabbed her hand and their fingers intertwined naturally. “I never want to be without you. Come with me. We will tell him what’s going on and maybe tell him a bit of good news if the time is appropriate.”She helped him to his feet and together they made their way back to his father’s bedside. Anakin was waiting for them, struggling to keep his eyes open. Sleep wanted him since death could not have him.“Luke,” Anakin said. “It’s wonderful to see you again.”Luke gave his father a gentle hug. “I only wish it were under happier circumstances.”“We will celebrate the completion of your and Mara’s quest once this mess is dealt with. What’s going on with your sister and her children…oh.” Anakin’s voice faltered as he reached deep within the Force and found only one of his grandchildren still alive. His soul felt like giving into the darkness then, but he knew his daughter needed him. “And her child?” he corrected himself.Luke explained to his father the basics of what had happened over the past four days and what had just occurred in Leia’s medcenter room. Anakin simply nodded. “I will send you two to arrest the woman who did this once Mara is healed.”A sly smirk formed on Mara’s lips. “As much as I want whoever did this to pay, I have my wedding to plan. Luke will be preoccupied with planning it, too.”Despite his sorrow, Anakin’s spirits lifted. He looked from Mara to Luke. Luke planted a kiss on Mara’s cheek and that confirmed it for Anakin.“So,” Mara said, producing a lightsaber – his Jedi lightsaber – from a bedside drawer. She placed it at his side. “You can do your own dirty work from now on.”Anakin’s fingers grazed the familiar metal. He then returned Mara’s smirk. “Are you sure? It was Lumiya.”“Yeah, you owe me one – I killed your annoying rival: Jerec.”“Then I guess I have a job to do once I’m better.” His fingers gripped his lightsaber and he felt the comforting weight in his hand.* * *Leia thanked the Force that Han had been allowed into the operating room. She needed him. She needed him more now than ever before. She was on her back on an operating table. A sheet had been set up like a wall to make sure that she could not see what was going on below her chest. She was already temporarily paralyzed so she could feel nothing. Han sat on a stool beside her head. He was trying to keep calm, but Leia knew him better. He looked around at all the nurses and doctors preparing to help Leia. “Can I get a cold cloth for her?” he asked one of nurses who nodded at his request. “Han, I don’t need you to cool me anymore.” Those were the most words she had said in a while. “I need to do something,” he begged. Leia realized that Han had suffered just as much as she did over the past four days.“Then hold me,” she requested. He nodded. Han put one arm across her shoulders and let her head rest in the crook of his other arm.A few minutes later they heard the chief surgeon announce, “The first child is out.” There were no cries, only tears that welled up in the parent’s eyes. “What gender was the baby?” Leia asked, loud enough to be heard by the nearby nurses. One of the nurses, a female Bothan, glanced at Han, and then simply said, “He was a boy.” “Arei,” Leia said with a shaky exhale. “I want to name him Arei. It means air of life in ancient Alderaan.”“Okay,” Han said with a nod. “His name is Arei.”“May I see him?”Han held her tighter as the bothan nurse went out of sight, then returned with the small, still child wrapped in a white blanket. The child was placed by Leia’s head and she softly turned to kiss him. He looked like he was at peace.“Mommy will always love you.”Han brushed a knuckle down the child’s chubby cheek. “And so will Daddy.”They stayed together for a few moments before they heard one of the surgeons say, “The second baby is almost out.” A nurse scooped up the first child.Leia’s mind connected with the mind of the child still inside her and soothed the baby as the surgeons pulled her out. There were tiny shrill screams. Leia smiled. Han grinned down at her.“Congratulations,” one of the surgeons announced. “It’s a miracle. Despite her prematurity, you have a healthy baby girl.” * * *An hour later, Leia was back in her medcenter room. Han was at her side. In her arms, wrapped in pink blankets, was her tiny baby girl. An oxygen tube had been inserted into her nose to help the baby breathe due to her small lungs, but she was expected to be a completely normal, healthy child.Han was at her side, as always. He was grinning from ear to ear and absolutely fascinated with their daughter. She was bald, pale, and had murky blue-grey eyes, but both parents knew that her colouring would change within a matter of weeks.Leia was still heartbroken over the loss of her son, but her daughter helped heal the wound. Clearia then entered the serene room with a smile. “You have four visitors waiting to see you; some are more impatience than others.”“Let them in.”Clearia nodded and turned around to open the door. Luke and Mara entered hand in hand, and her father was in a hoverchair being pushed by Chewbacca. Her father looked like he was in rough shape, but he smiled when he saw her. “Come here, Dad,” Leia said.Anakin’s eyes grew wide as Chewie pushed him to Leia’s side. “You called me ‘dad.’”“Get used to it, Dad,” she said, handing her daughter to Han, who then helped Anakin hold her in his arms. “I figured it would be too confusing having two ‘Ani’s in the family, so I decided to change your name instead of her name.”It had only felt right to both Han and Leia to name their daughter Ani, after her grandfather who had saved her and her mother’s life. Anakin started laughing with delight. “Hello there, Ani,” he cooed at the child. “I’m your grandpa.”